Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.
this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.
tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com
xxxx
PART 74
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Pictures of 2500 Indian Stamps continued……………………
I have got 25,000 stamps with beautiful designs.
London Swaminathan has been collecting stamps for 65 years continuously.
In my London, stamp dealers would not touch Indian stamps because they are very dirty; but I would not blame India for it. If u collect stamps in India, it would be spoiled quickly because of the weather conditions. The same stamps can be preserved better in Britain because it is a cold place. But producing bad designed stamps is inexcusable.
***
VERY BAD STAMPS ON MAHABHARATA, FASHION.
THESE MINI SHEETS SHOW PEOPLE IN THE INDIAN POSTAL DEPARTMENT DON’T KNOW HISTORY, RELIGION, MAHABHARATA OR STAMP COLLECTING.
MAHABAHARATA STAMPS WOULD NOT BE UNDERSTOOD BY ANYONE BECAUSE EACH STAMP DON’T SAY WHAT IT IS.
MY MADURAI SETUPATI HIGH SCHIOOL TEACHER PSK USED TO CRITICISE BAD ,ILEGIBLE, DIRTY WRITING AS BEGGAR’S VOMIT.
MAHABHARATA STAMPS BELONG TO THAT CATEGORY.
THEY LOOK LIKE BEGGAR’S VOMIT.
FAHION STAMPS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH INDIAN CULTURE. THE MINI SHEET iS SO BIG IT WOULD NOT FIT INTO ANY STAMP ALBUM IN THE WORLD. SOME MAD MAN MIGHT HAVE DESIGNED IT WHEN HE IS DRUNK.
IT SHOWS THE PEOPLE IN THE P & T HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF STAMP COLLECTING.
PUNISH THEM; TELL THE WORLD HOW MUCH YOU SPENT TO DESIGN THESE STAMPS.
***
DO YOU COLLECT INDIAN STAMPS?
I HAVE GOT 100 MINI SHEETS.
I HAVE GOT SPARE STAMPS .
–subham—
Tags- Indian stamps, MINI STAMPS, 25,000, PART 74, MAHABHARATA, VERY BAD STAMPS, FASHION, PERFUME
Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.
this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.
tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com
xxxx
Varaha Avatara in Udayagiri Caves, Gupta Period.
Kings of Gupta dynasty were great Hindus. Their rule is considered the Golden period of India. According to Chinese pilgrim and others, people slept leaving their house doors open. No theft, no robbery was reported; it was Rama Rajya. The kings called themselves Parama Bhagavatas, i.e. great followers of Lord Vishnu. But they donated liberally to all faiths. Their gold coins are in all museums of the world. British museum has displayed it at the entrance of the coin section.
Gupta inscriptions frequently depict and refer to various Hindu deities, particularly Vishnu and Lakshmi, alongside other gods and goddesses. The Gupta period saw a flourishing of Hindu art and iconography, solidifying the forms of many deities that are still recognized today. Vishnu is prominently featured, with inscriptions often associating Gupta rulers with him and emphasizing their role as his representatives on Earth.
Here’s a more detailed look:
• Vishnu:
Gupta rulers often identified themselves with Vishnu. For example, an inscription from Govindnagar, Mathura, refers to a pillar dedicated to Vishnu. Vishnu’s boar avatar, Varaha, is also depicted in the Udayagiri caves, showcasing his importance.
• Lakshmi:
The goddess Lakshmi, often associated with wealth and prosperity, is also frequently depicted in Gupta art and inscriptions. She is sometimes shown as Rajya-Lakshmi, associated with kingship and the coronation ritual, highlighting her role in legitimizing the ruler’s authority.
• Other Deities:
Besides Vishnu and Lakshmi, other deities found in Gupta inscriptions and art include:
• Karttikeya (Skanda Kumara, Mahasena): The god of war, often depicted with a peacock.
• Shiva: Depicted with his mount, Nandi, and associated with the Udayagiri caves.
• Brahma: The creator god, also found in the Udayagiri caves.
• Adityas, Agni, Vayu, Vasus, Rudras, Rishis: Various deities and sages from the Vedic tradition are also represented.
In the Gupta epigraphs, the exploits of a king equalled to those of Indra . it is seen in inscriptions of Samudra Gupta and Mathura stone inscription of Chandra Gupta. Tamils also called the king, Indra. Tolkappiam named Indra as King, Venthan in Tamil.
In the Kusana and Gupta sculptures, Varuna is represented as riding a crocodile and bearing a noose, pasa, of chastisement. He is also mentioned in the Mathura stone inscription. The Mathura pillar inscription of Chandragupta II is an important historical document from the Gupta period in ancient India. It records the installation of two Shiva Lingas by Udita Acharya in the “year 61 following the era of the Guptas”. This corresponds to approximately 380 CE, though some scholars like Harry Falk suggest a date of 388 CE. The inscription is found on a pillar in Mathura and is also known as the Lakulisa Mathura Pillar Inscription.
Neither Kalidasa nor Sangam Tamil poets mentioned the world Linga. But both have praised Linga shaped Kaliash. This shows Kalidasa lived before Sangam or Gupta age.
Kalidasa refers to the deity Surya having seven horses, all green in colour harnessed to his chariot—haridasva-Raghu 3-22.
Oldest Post- Vedic reference to Vishnu is in Panini’s Ashtadhyayi 4-3-98
An ambassador of the Indo Greek king Antialklidas named Heliodorus called himself bhagavata and erected a Garuda pillar in Besnagar in second century BCE.
Imperial Guptas called themselves Parama Bhagavatas according to Gadhwa stone inscription of Chandra Gupta II. Gupta coins also had the title paramabhagavatas.
This also shows Kalidasa lived long before the Guptas. A court poet always follows the state religion. But Kalidasa was associated with Vikramaditya of first century BCE and he praised Shiva sky high as Jagadguru in Kumarasambhavam and Parents of the Earth in Raghuvamsa.
A four armed Vishnu figure carved on a panel at Udayagiri is dated in the Gupta era 82, i.e. 400 CE.
Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudra Gupta mentioned Vishnugopa of Kanchi
****
Vishnu in Delhi Iron Pillar Inscription
The king in Delhi Iron Pillar is now generally identified with the Gupta King Chandragupta II. This identification is based on several points:
The script and the poetic style of the inscription, which point to a date in the late fourth or early fifth century CE: the Gupta period.
The inscription describes the king as a devotee of the God Vishnu, and records the erection of a dhvaja (“standard”, or pillar) of Vishnu, on a hill called Viṣṇupada (“hill of the footprint of Viṣṇu”). Other Gupta inscriptions also describe Chandragupta II as a Bhagavata (devotee of Vishnu). The names of the places mentioned in the inscription are also characteristic of the Gupta Era. For example, Dakṣiṇa Jalanidhi (the Indian Ocean) and Vaṅga (the Bengal region).
The short name ‘Candra’ is inscribed on the archer-type gold coins of Chandragupta II, while his full name and titles appear in a separate, circular legend on the coin.
A royal seal of Chandragupta’s wife Dhruvadevi contains the phrase Śrī Viṣṇupada-svāmī Nārāyaṇa (“Nārāyaṇa, the lord of the illustrious Viṣṇupada”).
***
Surya -Sun god
Kumara Gupta’s Mandasor stone inscription and Bandhuvarma mentioned the repairs to a sun temple.
Kalidasa mentioned Surya with the word Savita in Rtu Samhara. God Surya is in the Rig Veda where ten hymns are addressed to him . Adi Sankara made it as one of the six faiths (shan matha) of Hindus. It is called Sauram. Surya became Solar in European languages is a well-known fact.
The tradition preserved in the Bhavishya Purana that the first sun temple was built in Sindhu on the Chandrabhaga by Samba, , son of Krishna by Jambavati . she brought Maga priests from Sakadvipa. Varahamihira also mentioned that Maga- Sakadvipa Brahmanas should be appointed as priests in sun temples- Brhat Samhita 60-19.
Even today Sun cult is followed by millions of Brahmins in their daily ritual of Sandhyavandana and Surya Namaskar . And surya is associated with lord Vishnu in the Vedas.
Kalidasa refers to a temple containing an image of the Sun deity and mentions people returning from that shrine, at the feet of which, obviously the feet of the image, –paadamuulam—their attendance was required-Vik 5-4
A sun temple standing in Multan on the bank of the Chandrahaga river—chenab—was seen by Chinese pilgrim Huen Tsang. The same temple which was seen by Alberuni four hundred years later was destroyed by Aurangzeb in the 17th century. The temple built by Samba, Krishna’s son must have existed for thousands of years in Multan.
Gupta Kings and their Dates:
Gupta
(c. 240 – c. 280)
Ghatotkacha
(c. 280–319)
Chandragupta I
(c. 319–335)
Kacha
(c. 335)
Samudragupta
(c. 335–375)
(Ramagupta)
(c. 375)
Chandragupta II
(380–415)
Kumaragupta I
(415–455)
Skandagupta
(455–467)
Purugupta
(467–473)
Kumaragupta II
(473–476)
Budhagupta
(476–495)
Narasimhagupta
(495–530)
(Bhanugupta)
(c. 510)
Vainyagupta
(c. 507)
Kumaragupta III
(c. 530 – c. 540)
Vishnugupta
(540–550)
The Sanchi inscription of Chandragupta II is an epigraphic record documenting a donation to the Buddhist establishment at Sanchi in the reign of king Chandragupta II (circa CE 375–415). It is dated year 93 in the Gupta era.
Art historian C Sivaramamurty in his book EPIGRAPHICAL ECHOS OF KALIDASA gives a long list of inscriptions where influence of Kalidasa is very evident. He placed Kalidasa before the Gupta era, saying literature comes first and then paintings and sculptures follow it. Sangam Age poets also proved it correct by using 200++ imageries of Kalidasa in their poems.
–subham—
Tags- Gupta inscriptions, Hindu Gods, Delhi Iron Pillar, Allahabad, Mandasor, Mathura
The new Social Science books for Classes 6 to 8 are truly a delight. The Class 8 book is still not available on their site, but I have read Class 6 and 7 books and really loved them.
Here are some key takeaways
Read and enjoy!
Name of Bharat and Jambu Dweep
Books talk about ancient history of India from Rig Veda and Sapta Sindhu name
Chapter also gives reference of Vishnu Puran for the name Bharat.
Books talk about name of different parts of India came from Mahabharata and ancient history of India.
This part I actually didnt like which talks about origin of Indian civilization from Indus valley civilization 4000 years ago. I think Indian civilization is way older but right now its only established fact and we have to go by facts.
Veda
Book talks about Veda and Vedic Gods. Veda were composed 7000 years to 4000 years ago.
Upanishads
Books also talk about Upanishads and various stories mentioned in Upanishads.
There is a dedicated chapter related to cultural roots of India which talks about Hindu, Bodh and Jain culture.
There’s no mention of LGBTQ or the typical “my life, my rules” narrative. Instead, the book beautifully emphasizes the importance of the family system, even dedicating a separate chapter to it. Reading this chapter was truly a treat, especially with the lovely family photographs included.
What a subtle and thoughtful way to connect ancient Indian heritage with democracy- the chapter on democracy even begins with a quote from the Mahabharata.
Chapter of cities and states start from quote of The great Chanakya and not only in beginning but on many places the quotes of Chanakya and ancient Indian thinkers were given.
No oppressor oppressed Marxist propaganda
There is a chapter on Jati and Varna system and it beautifully talks about how caste system was evolved by paternal profession and how all these groups complimented each other and lived in harmony.
There are three dedicated chapters that talk about Indian Kings ruled from -300 BC to 1000 AD.
They cover almost all great Indian Kings who were always neglected in previous books.
This is truly the best chapter I found.
It beautifully explains the sacredness of the Indian land, emphasizing that India is not just a piece of land but a holy and revered place.
This chapter talks about sacred Teertha of India scattered all over in different parts of India.
This chapter also talks in detail about sacred Kumbha mela.
This chapter talks about how rivers and mountain of India are not just river and mountains, they are sacred places and origin of our culture.
Through out the chapter they presented beautiful shloka from Purans.
My followers know that I’ve always been a critic of the Modi govt when it comes to education, but I must admit, this change feels refreshing and beautiful. So far, I’ve read only Class 6 and 7 books, and I’m eagerly waiting for the Class 8 book, which covers the so-called “Dark Age” of India (the Mughal period).
As I get that book, I will share my review. I congratulate @EduMinOfIndia and @dpradhanbjp for these changes and request that this correction should not stop here and keep going.
(This article has been compiled from the tweet thread posted by @Starboy2079 on July 17, 2025, with minor edits to improve readability and conform to HinduPost style guide)
Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.
this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.
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OLDEST HISTORIAN IN THE WORLD; RIG VEDA REVEALS-1 (Post No.9650)
EVERYONE MUST READ AT LEAST ONE HYMN IN THE RIG VEDA. IT IS IN THE FIRST MANDALA, HYMN 112. IT LISTS ALL THE MIRACLES THAT HAPPENED BEFORE 3150 BCE AND ALL THE HISTORICAL ANECDOTES. SO THE POET-SEER KUTSA ANGIRAS IS THE OLDEST HISTORIAN .NEITHER HERODOTUS NOR BERORUS NOR KALHANA OF RAJA TARANGINI COULD CLAIM THIS TITLE.
IT HAS NOT ONLY HISTORICAL DETAILS BUT ALSO SCIENTIFIC DETAILS SUCH AS THE ECLIPSE AND EARTH QUAKES!
***
RIGVEDA 1-112- 1 TO 25
HYMN 1-112 HAS 25 MANTRAS OR STANZAS, ONE OF THE LONGEST IN THIS MANDALA (BOOK)
Rishi /Kavi/Seer/Poet Kutsa Angirasa address this hymn to the oldest Twins in the world ‘Asvini Devas’.
Mantra 1 (RV.1-112-1)
Kutsa Angiras says, let me first salute Heaven and Earth and Agni/fire god.
O Asvins, come here ! you helped us to get the spoil in the battle with your war cry .
Mantra 2 , RV.1-112-2
O Asvins, come here!
You help our thoughts to think about more holy acts.
Here is a beautiful line – the hymns are described as ‘AN ELOQUENT CAR’. That is like carpenters make a beautiful chariot by cutting and joining the wooden pieces and decorating it with pearls and gems so do we do construct poems. Tamils also use SOL THER=WORD CHARIOT and SOL THATCHAN= WORD CARPENTER.
Please note the Tamil words ‘thachchan’ and ‘ther’ are Sanskrit words.
Thaksha gives birth to 100s of English words such technology, technical, archi TECT, tactics, tect etc.
‘Ther’ is RATHA inverted, reversed . it is called mirror image of ‘rathe’
Mantra 3
O Asvins, come here.
You, HEROES made the barren cow yield milk.
The word hero is used 1000s of times in the Rig Veda. They not only called the gods heroes, but also prayed for heroic children in 100s of verses.
Here the barren cow/pasu is interpreted as rishi Sayu’s cow.
So we hear one ancient anecdote and even milk is interpreted as Soma rasa/juice.
So we see the first miracle of Asvins, world’s first TWINS here.
Mantra 4
Here Fire God Agni is described as ‘Two Mothered’.
Ancient seers rubbed two sticks and made fire – says the interpreter.
We get so many words like this which shows Vedic Hindus were highly cultured, imaginative, poetic, eloquent and literate.
According to Sayana, the most often quoted commentator, here Wind god is described as Wanderer and Fire God as his child.
Veda is full of symbolism. Vedic Hindus were highly imaginative. They don’t say anything straight. They themselves sing in one of the hymns GODS LOVE MYSTERIOUS EXPRESSIONS. They are NOT nomadic as described by the 15 Western jokers/translators.
Here comes one word ‘triple lore’. Commentators believe that a saint come poet Kakshivan became a master of 3 things. Western commentator and translator R T Griffith says the ‘passage meaning is uncertain’. Words like ‘uncertain, obscure, not clear, inserted, interpolated, incorrect’ are found throughout Griffith’s Rig Vedic translation. He quotes at least 20 jokers / comedians/ translators of the West; we get beautiful jokes- one person describes a word as a worm, another a devil and third person it may be a deity.
Number symbolism came to Tamil during the period of Siddha poetry. But in the R V ., we see it from the very beginning to the end.
Mantra 5
‘Pushed into well, fallen into well’ – are phrases used by Vedic seers.
Rebha and Vandana are said to have been thrown into wells by the Asuras and Kanva also was thrown into well. Asvins rescued them all. In other passages we come across TRITA thrown into well. Westerners could not understand this phrase. So they gave this phrase a racial tone. One of the jokers, WILSON, say that the ‘some of the first teachers of Hinduism tried to civilise people and they pushed them into wells. We see lot of jokes like this throughout Vedic translation.
My comments
‘Well’ is ignorance; Asvins helping some people to ‘see light’ is attaining wisdom. Later literature gives stories around this phrase.
But Asvins miracle list includes this as well.
SEA ADVENTURE
Mantra 6
This stanza contains the sea adventure, sea miracle which is quoted very often. We come across huge ships with different descriptions.
There are four anecdotes reported here. And most important of them is Asvins saving Bhujyu. He was son of Tugra and was let in the middle of the sea. At last, Asvins recued them.
This shows Vedic Hindus were great sea farers. Even before Columbus , Magellan and Captain Cook, they travelled to far off islands. It is reported in other stanzas and Ashtadhyayi of Panini and Kalidasa.
In this sixth stanza we come across Antaka, Karkandhu, Vayya who were all rescued by Asvins
Antaka was rescued by Asvins from a lake.
Vayya is referred to in RV 2-13; 4-19-6
MY COMMENTS
‘YYA’, ‘AYYA’ ending in several names show Tamil connection or influence.
Madhavayya, Ayyachchaami, Rajayya are common names
So in mantra 6, we come across four personalities with 4 miracles.
Mantra 7
Seventh mantra talks about four more people-
Asvin helped Sucanti ,Atri ,Purukutsa and Prsnigu .
Asvins gave Sucanti wealth and home.
Guarded Purukutsa and Prsnigu.
About Prsnigu and Sucanti nothing more is related.
Atri is referred to in 1-45-3 and 1-51-3 where in it is said he was thrown into a fiery pit by the Asuras .
Asuras throwing seers and poets into a well or a lake or a fire pit is strange. Asuras were described as cannibals in one hymn in the same Mandala. This shows they were barbarians. If we don’t take it literally it may mean different things.
But we have another historic anecdotes to compare it.
One of the greatest Saivite saints Appar alias Tirunavukkarasu was also thrown into fire pit by the greatest of the Pallava Kings Mahendra Varman at the instigation of bad Jains. But Appar enjoyed the burning lime kiln as a ‘cool pond in summer’ due to Lord Shiva’s grace. This is one of the miracles in the life of Appar. So it is possible that Atri also escaped from such a fiery ordeal .
Purukutsa is referred to in RV 1-63-7.
Indra demolished seven castles in a war to gain victory for Purukutsa. So it is a historical incident.
Foreigners wrote wrong history of India and listed kings only from Buddha period- Sixth Century BCE. According them , India had NO kings from 2500 BCE, beginning of the Indus- Sarasvati Civilization. When they have listed all the kings of Egyptian, Babylonian and Mayan Kings, they rejected 140 kings names in the Puranas. Even when I got M.A.in history from Madurai Kamaraj University in 1977 , I had to write that false history! What a shame!
Rig Veda lists lot of personalities. Most of them were kings or Priest Kings. We must include those kings and 140 generations of Solar Dynasty. Apart from this , there is Lunar dynasty as well.
About two of the above four names in the seventh mantra we do not know anything else.
There are Ten Mandalas/Books in the Rig Veda with over 1000 hymns and in those we have over 10,000 mantras!
I am dealing with only one hymn with 25 mantras.
(All the Rig Vedic verses are available free of cost in the websites; both in English and Sanskrit; I will give the full verse at the end of this essay)
Pictures shown here are taken by london swaminathan
WARNING: PLEASE SHARE MY ARTICLES; BUT DON’T SHARE IT WITHOUT AUTHOR’S NAME AND THE BLOG NAME. BE HONEST; OTHERS WILL BE HONEST WITH YOU.
I visited Sri Mushnam temple in the first week of March 2018 and amazed to see the beautiful sculptures.
Some facts about the temple for future visitors:
Where is it?
Very near Vridhachalam (Virudhachalam) in Tamil Nadu. Easy to travel from Chidambaram.
Who is the presiding deity?
Sri Bhuvaraha swami/ Vishnu in Varaha avatara- with Goddess Ambujavalli (Lakshmi).
Varaha Avatara (boar incarnation) is one of the Ten famous Avataras of Lord Vishnu.
Whose temple is this?
Though it is very ancient, we have records from Vijayanagara Empire and Hoysala times.
What is the special features of this temple?
Beautiful sculptures with women’s hair do. The plait of the hair in some of the statues are very natural.
Devotees believe Lord Vishnu in three forms in this temple—Bhuvaraha, Bodhi/ Asvatta tree- Ficus religiosa and Nitya pushkarani- the tank.
During festival times, the deity is taken to a mosque in a nearby village and the Muslims pay respects to the god.
Colourful Tower
The tower is a seven storeyed one with colourful sculptures and on the top there are nine Kalsas.
The murti/ staue is accompanied by Bhdevi and Sridevi
The temple entrance has lot of carvings identical to Vridhachalam temple. Both must be constructed by the same sculptors.
Danda Theertham (water source) was made famous by Madhavacharya and people from Karnataka and other states visit this place during special festival the Theertham.
Significance of the Statue
The main statue is believed to be a Swayambhu (spontaneous appearance). It is made up of Salagrama. The meaning is fossil stone with the impressions of sea creatures. Hindus—particularly Vaishnavites—respect all the fossil stones with when and conch impressions as the form of Vishnu. In other parts of the world, these fossils are valued by the geologists and palaeontologists. They tell the story of the earth.
Here in Srimushnnam, it might have been an ancient stone with such symbols and later sculpted in to Bhuvaraha.
Another significance of this place is the birth place of one of the Shankaracharyas of Kanchi Kamakoti peetam, samadhi of one of the Ahobilam jeeyars and the theertham established by Sri Madhwacharya.
There is a Shiva temple as well.
Geologically, historically and by religious Sthala puranas (local religious history) this is a very ancient place.
But it is not sung by the famous Tamil Vaishnavite saints- Alvars.
The sculptures at the gate show several dancing postures, which reminds one of Chidambaram temple.
One must do some research comparing these dance mudras in Chidambaram, Virudhachalam and Srimushnam.
Kuzanthai Amman Shrine
Another unsual thing about the temple is there is one Goddess shrine called Kuzanthai amman shrine (kuzanthai = baby).
Those who wish for issues pray here. There are seven goddesses (sapta matas) under a neem tree.
Every temple as some special features. The idol in the main shrine itself is unique. In other places Lord Vishnu appar with four hands with Conch and Wheel (Sanga, Chakra). Here he holds both of his hands on his waist reminding Panduranga.
You may hear many more specialities from the Bhattacharya/ priest when you visit the temple.
Every temple has a special prasada (eatable) and this temple has special laddu.
Like all the Nayak temples of Madurai, Tiruvannamalai, we have 1000 pillar Mandap/hall here.
16 Pillar Mandap
In all the Nayak temples we have 16 pillar mandap; here we have one Purushasukta mandap where Vedic recitation is held. It is aid that like the music pillars of Nayak temples, we can hear musical sound here with the help of stones. There are beautiful Yali (mirror image of Leo= leonine= lion like) and knights. All the sculptures in the temple are unique and beautiful.
Tamil and Vedas 
